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Arrow Producer Says Green Lantern 'Could Never' Be On the Show

Arrow started off as a show that was meant to be a gritty street-level crime drama that lacked any superpowers. That changed when The Flash was introduced. From there, two more shows spawned in Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl, forming an interconnected DC Universe on TV. The decision to bring superpowers into the mix has allowed the showrunners to broaden the proverbial sand box they can play with; introducing characters like Firestorm, Vixen, and many others for the first time in live-action. Though having a wide range of superpowered DC characters to draw from for the shows, some characters appear to be just out of reach to use.

One of the characters that is so often hinted at in the Arrowverse, but has never physically appeared on screen, is Green Lantern. These references have included Ferris Air, Coast City, a news report of an Air Force pilot having gone missing, and even a man in a bar wearing a flight jacket that bears the name tag with ‘Jordan’ on it. The most recent example is the introduction of the character of Obsidian in season 2 of Legends of Tomorrow a character who in the comics, is the son of Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern.

Speaking on the subject of Arrow character Susan Williams - who is from Coast City, a key part of the Green Lantern mythos - with CBR at Arrow’s 100th episode celebration, executive producer Wendy Mericle delivered the final nail in the coffin on Green Lantern ever appearing on the show:

“One of the fun parts of the show is that you can put these characters in and the Easter eggs and the fans that know this universe so well respond to it on varying levels of excitement and whatnot, but the thing about her character that’s so intriguing is that it operates on that level. It also operates because she’s someone who’s very intrigued by Oliver, who’s going to uncover some secrets that Oliver has, which is going to be really fun, and is a fun nod to the Green Lantern, who obviously we could never bring on the show.”

This is sure to be disappointing news to fans of Green Lantern, who would love to see a great representation of the character - which many felt was not achieved in the 2011 film of the same name, starring Ryan Reynolds. It is worth noting however that recently Lance Henriksen, who plays Obsidian on Legends of Tomorrow, gave an interview where he did confirm that his character will in fact be the son of the Green Lantern on the show:

“It’s all in there. It’s all in there, every bit of it. Yeah, being Green Lantern’s son and all that stuff and him being gay is all in there.”

Based on Mericle’s comments, it’s possible that Alan Scott will be referenced only by name as his father, without ever identifying him as the Green Lantern. Still, Mericle did offer a tiny glimmer of hope of things possibly changing one day in regards to the character making a television debut - when reminded of how far the DCTV Universe has come over the years. With the 100th episode of Arrow introducing an interplanetary and inter-dimensional threat this year, Mericle admitted:

“This is 100% true! I mean, really Season 6 and on, all bets are off, right?”